Members of Congress Open Wallets and Pocketbooks

Members of Congress and senior Congressional staff may be a little distracted from legislative activity this week and next as they prepare to file their annual personal financial disclosure reports.

Personal financial reports disclosing CY2013 family wealth and income are due to be filed by May 15th. Some members of Congress, including Senators Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. (currently ranked 4th richest member of Congress) , Robert Corker, R-Tenn. (currently ranked 22nd), Kay Hagan, D-N.C. (currently ranked 45th), James Risch, R-Idaho (currently ranked 19th), Mark Warner, D-Va. (currently ranked 3rd), and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. have already been granted extensions. Many more are expected.

The filings will then be scanned and made public about 30 days later, although filers could make their information public voluntarily at any time. Because of filing extensions, an accurate ranking of the wealthiest members will not be possible until several months later. View Roll Call’s ranking of the 50 Richest Members of Congress, based on CY2012 wealth reports.

While some Western success has been due to capital, the liberty that unleashes its citizens’ ingenuity and courage has been more important.

About Political MoneyLine

Political MoneyLine is about following money in politics. It's a cash register for givers, receivers and those who want to watch the flow.

Kent Cooper has been uncovering and counting political money since 1972, when new disclosure laws took effect. He was assistant staff director for the Federal Election Commission's disclosure office for 22 years.

Tony Raymond was at the FEC for more than 20 years, analyzing reports and serving as the FEC's first webmaster.

They currently produce the Political MoneyLine website on CQ.com and developed its earlier versions: FECInfo, Public Disclosure Inc., and Tray.com.